If you buy something through our links, ToolGuyd might earn an affiliate commission.

Milwaukee sent over a teaser announcement, with early information about new M18 cordless power tool batteries that are coming soon.

As you might already be aware, Milwaukee has come out with new M18 High Output cordless power tool batteries, including an HD12.0Ah battery, and an XC6.0Ah battery. Now, they are expanding that lineup of next-gen high-performance batteries with a new higher capacity compact battery, CP3.0, and an even higher capacity XC battery, XC8.0.

Advertisement

What’s so special about these new batteries?

Both batteries:

Fit all Milwaukee M18 cordless power tools and accessories

Provides 50% more power and runs 50% cooler (compared to standard CP and XC batteries, respectively)

The CP3.0 battery provides 50% more runtime vs. the CP2.0 battery, and is also said to provide XC power in a compact size.

The CP8.0 battery provides 60% more runtime than the XC5.0 battery.

More information, pricing, and availability, will be released later this month.

First Thoughts

Neither of the new batteries should come as a big surprise. With the 15-cell HD12.0Ah battery pack being engineered with larger 4.0Ah cells, a 10-cell XC-sized battery was bound to follow. Other brands have come out with compact 3.0Ah battery packs, and it seemed reasonable for Milwaukee to do the same.

What about a compact 4.0Ah battery? Not yet knowing the retail prices of the CP3.0 and XC8.0 batteries, I would guess that maybe the price of a CP4.0 battery would make it less compelling. The CP3.0 does provide a 50% runtime improvement compared to the Cp2.0 battery. The XC batteries, including XC4.0, are available for longer runtime needs.

How much more would you pay for a compact 4.0Ah battery, compared to the price for an XC 4.0Ah battery? And that’s probably why we don’t see that particular size and capacity battery coming out just yet.

Still, this is very welcome news. Depending on the pricing, I think a lot of users will be happy to buy these new batteries, which will deliver longer runtime in relatively compact sizing.

What else do you think is coming soon?

Here’s what I have a lead on: Milwaukee is coming out with a [redacted], and it’ll allow for [redacted] while [redacted]. And, it’ll power the new cordless [redacted] that Milwaukee M18 users have been asking for.

As I may have mentioned on another thread, my boss recently purchased a couple of the HD 12.0’s for our trucks. This was mainly because his previous purchase prior to that was the SDS rotary hammer, and at that point our biggest batteries in our fleet were XC 5.0. Besides the rotary hammer, I have used the HD 12.0 on the angle grinder (the other battery hog besides the SDS) as well as the hammerdrill/driver. The HD 12.0 is not nearly as cumbersome or unwieldy as one might think on such tools, given that it was designed to run tablesaws and chainsaws. I would be interested to see a real world evaluation of price vs. runtime vs. weight/bulk of the new XC 8.0 vs the HD 12.0 given that the HD 12.0 doesn’t feel out of place on the hammerdrill/driver.

I think the new CP3.0Ah will be a great battery for my jigsaw and my 15 gauge nailer, and depending on how it performs I could see using it on my Hackzall as well. I am curious how the new 8.0Ah battery stacks up against the existing 9.0Ah unit.

Comparisons are complicated due to 2-pack pricing and promo bundle pricing, but for (1) battery, an HD12.0 is the same price as an HD9.0, at least as of the time of this post, at 2 dealers. Others have the HD12.0 at $249.

It’s too early to tell, but I would think that XC8.0 or HD12.0 would be better choices than the HD9.0, unless HD12.0 pricing goes back to $249 everywhere, or XC8.0 pricing launches at the same $199.

9 new gen cells would give you a M12 HD HO 12.0….. or 6 new gen cells would be the M12 XC HO 8.0. M12 compact new gen 4.0!!! but it wont fit in the tool anymore in the exact form factor as the current compact batteries. A compact M12 4.0 is more desirable than an M18 compact 4.0.

I believe that the best performing 4.0 and 3.0 cells currently are the Samsung 40T and 30T, respectively. The 40T can discharge up to 25-30 amps continuously, and the 30T can do 35 amps easily. The retail prices are similar.

I’m sure Milwaukee could throw the 4.0 cells in a compact battery, but it just wouldn’t perform as well as the 3.0 cells. It seems they’d rather get a bit more power from their tools at the expense of runtime, as compared to Metabo and Bosch with their 4.0 slimpacks.

That wouldn’t be surprising either, as power ceiling is likely the reason why most brands didn’t come out with 3.0Ah compact packs before, even though they could.

With 18650 cells, 3.0Ah cell performance was quite a bit lower than for 2.0Ah and 2.5Ah cells.

When one brand came out with 6.0Ah battery packs, an engineer at a competitor once told me that they tested them, and found that in higher drain applications they delivered lower runtime than lower capacity batteries.

I was told by another brand that great cooling can help squeeze more performance out of a cell than datasheets would suggest. When they select battery cells for their packs, they go by tested performance, not what a datasheet says on paper.

25-30A on paper for 40T cell is higher than what leading 2.0Ah and 2.5Ah 18650 cells were rated for.

I’m not convinced that a 35A continuous current draw for a 30T 3.0Ah cell would be a higher-weighted factor than price or other marketing reasons. Maybe 4.0Ah in a compact battery is too close to 5.0Ah, and Milwaukee still wants to sell XC4.0 and XC5.0 batteries. Or, the pricing would be too much higher than 2.0Ah cells, and too close to XC prices.

Additionally, Milwaukee might bundle their next-gen M18 Fuel tools with High Output tools, in which case CP3.0 will allow for more affordable kit pricing than CP4.0.

The decision to release CP3.0 probably involves a combination of reasons, maybe even more than we’re considering.

I use a Milwaukee hammer drill on a daily basis. I own a total of 4. I have an a pair of generic xc 6.0 batteries for my m18 hammer drill. I replaced that with the official Milwaukee Red Lithium xc 5.0 and got what I paid for. I was very happy with the official m18 performance. Longer… Lasting… Higher Caliber Power…. The prices of that generic crap battery really is too good to be true….

I have old 18v tools. The battery has the ‘glides/holders’ on the outside and the tool slides inside them. These newer tools have the ‘glides/holders on the outside and battery slides inside them. Not the clearest of descriptions but anyone that has put up with Milwaukee 18v tools will know. So-
Will these new batteries fit all tool.
I been through Milwaukee battery changes before so I know it is shame on me.

Thank You, my 18v Milwaukee tools use V18, I can find the V18 on the batteries. My tools and I are old. And again Thank You, I will keep this information in mind if I should decide to spend too much money on a new Milwaukee battery.

I am kinda confused so the HO 8.0 would be 10 cells. The 12.0 has 15 cells, the HO 3.0 would have how many and what about the HO 6.0 have. Wouldnt 5 cells be 4.0 and then 10 cells be the 8.0. The math doesnt make sense for the 3.0 3.75 cells and 6.0 7.5 cells.

I have noticed that the HO 6.0 & 12.0 do feel a little hollow as that size pack could hold more cells.

I think I posed the question last year about Milwaukee releasing a compact battery based on 21700 cells. It seemed like natural progression of the compact technology.

I was just debating whether to sell/donate my 5ah’s, as i have several 6ah HO now. I decided against it, just yesterday, because the 5ah seemed a decent size smaller than the 6 HO. With this news, I think I will get rid of the 5’s, and get the new compact 3’s.

For the longest time I thought a tool like an impact, should perform at least to spec, no matter the battery attached. Well the other day doing brakes, I swapped from a compact battery to a 6ah HO on my High-Torque, and you could hear it almost finding a new gear. Definitely performed better. I still would like to know how Milwaukee rates a tool. Does the Fuel High-Torque reach it’s ratings with a 2ah, but then exceeds with a larger battery?

Battery size does make a difference for higher demand tools. I tried using several different sized batteries in the chainsaw and it was enlightening.

The compact batteries spun the chain, but as soon as it hit wood it stalled. The 5Ah batteries cut wood, but not very well. The chainsaw worked fine with the 9Ah battery, but when you threw in the 12.0 battery it was “finding a new gear” like you said.

This is all getting way too confusing.
I like the XC 5.0 for what I do, and have a bunch of them. If the new c3po’s compare to those in terms of runtime and power, I would consider them. Otherwise, nothing below the current XC 5.0 is of any interest to me. I have a couple bigger ones too, and use them in the power hungry tools.
Good info though. Thanks for the updates.

A dealer lists the 5.0Ah as weighing 1.8 lbs, Milwaukee has the XC6.0Ah High Output as weighing 2.3 lbs, the HD9.0 as 2.4 lbs, and a dealer has the HD12.0 as 3.4 lbs. If these are accurate, there’s a 0.5 difference between High Output and standard XC, and a 1.0 lb difference between standard and High Output HD battery. The difference between compact High Output and compact will likely be between 0.25 and 0.5 lbs. If I had to guess, I’d say there’s maybe a 4-ounce (0.33 lb) difference, or thereabouts.

A CP2.0 battery weighs 1.09 lbs (listed on a dealer site). So… the High Output *should* weigh around 1.5 lbs? Maybe a little less, maybe a little more. Again, it’s just a guess, but I think it’s a reasonable one.

In other words, 1) I don’t know, but it’s probably not soon (sorry!), and 2) because they prefer to focus an the M18 cordless power tool ecosystem where any M18 tool, any M18 charger, and any M18 battery can work together.

The lawnmower would either need to be a multi battery setup, or a higher volt battery. I’ve used the Ryobi 40V, EGO 56V, and Echo 58V. All perform well for 30-40 minute time, then need recharges. An 18 volt wouldn’t work for a mower for long at all, but can do a hand blower just fine. I think a weed wacker would still need more voltage to work for more than a few minutes.

My guess/hope: Milwaukee is coming out with a [power station inverter], and it’ll allow for [charging] while [plugged into AC supply]. And, it’ll power the new cordless [lawn mower] that Milwaukee M18 users have been asking for.

Why is it so hard for Milwaukee to keep an 18v tool and battery platform simple and straightforward? Milwaukee 18v __amphour battery. Simple and easy. Milwaukee is the only brand that has to have an actual name gimmick for every single 18v battery. What the funny is the point of cp3, xc, ho, red, m18, fuel, and all the other bullpentagons that’s for their 18v platform? Nobody else does that corny butterflies. I don’t get why Milwaukee’s advertising brands their products like some shady used car salesman that sells snake oil.

Makita has compact and LXT batteries. Dewalt has standard and higher capacity XR batteries, which are usually yellow whereas the “standard” batteries are black. Bosch has Slim Pack, FatPack, and now CORE18V.

CP, XC, and HD are very straightforward. You have 3 basic sizes, and now both standard and high output options.

Fuel = premium brushless.

Please be mindful of your word choices. If you can’t say what you want without coarse language, take a break to calm down and try again.

I do think with Mwk’s aquisition of empire blades, it would only make sense to release at least a M18 brushless multi-tool.

I’m not sure why you are said a miter saw? They released a 7-1/4″ slider last year, and already have the 10″ sliding saw. Or do you want a non-sliding miter? I have a feeling they think there is more of a market for sliding saws, than non, and probably won’t release that.

The 10″ saw is almost 3 yrs old and has been bested by both flexvolt offereings and the makita offering. Sliding is fine but they need to up the power. With these H.O. batteries hopefully they can do that.

Well, Joe T.. Milwaukee does have a battery pole saw attachment coming.
…As far as brands go, it depends on your needs. For a Diy any brand will do, Ryobi being the best choice…..for advanced diy , I’d say M12, Ridgid,..
… professionals have different needs. Auto mechanics , plulmbers, HVAC guys would go into Milwaukee. A great all around company with many tools is Makita ( they are not as powerful as other brands, but very good precision tools)
Dewalt/Flexvolt is for construction/framing/remodeling…the most powerful circ saws/rear handle saws,SDS tools,mitre saw, table saw, etc..
………….we are in all platforms but some people will recommend tools ,talk about tools and have glowing reviews of certain red companies..for other personal reasons without having much experience using them ..
Lastly ,do you like American made tools? Or companies that try to keep jobs here? For many,that matters.

Compact 3.0 – I’ll see if I can get a factory rep to give me one free if I buy a tool next time I see a tent pitched outside the Depot. Only thing I really care about compact batteries in is my impact that’s constantly getting used, and the 2.0 I have for that is still pretty fresh. I doubt an extra 50 mm width would bother me on the belt clip, though.

8.0 – meh. I’ve got a couple 12.0 batteries and a 9.0 for handling big tasks, no reason to muddy the waters there.

“The Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Transportation on Wednesday issued an interim rule banning the transportation of lithium ion cells and batteries as cargo on passenger craft, as well as setting a 30 percent charge limit on ones shipped as air cargo.”